The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 1 - The Bills have their new head coach, Sam Darnold is a top tier QB, Sean McVay gets a pass

Episode Date: January 27, 2026

Colin Cowherd reacts to breaking news in the NFL – the Bills are making OC Joe Brady their new head coach He points out Sam Darnold has been a top QB for years now despite the criticisms that he “can’t win big games” Colin also talks about why we give coaches like Sean McVay a pass but not for Sean PaytonSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day in the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. We're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. It is a Tuesday. Welcome in. We are live in Chicago. Apparently the Buffalo Bills have a new coach. Wherever you may be, however you may be listening. Thanks for making

us part of your day. A story came down about eight minutes ago, nine minutes ago. Joe Brady, who's been with the bills for several years, started as Josh Allen's quarterback coach, is the new hire for the Buffalo Bill. And so that's okay. Was it the hot coach on the market? Because that usually works, no. And I read a story this morning, and it said the Patriot Seahawks is the most unlikely Super Bowl matchup by preseason odds in the last 50 years.

I don't think it's shocking. And I'll tell you why. What did we learn this NFL season? Let's tie a bow on it as we go through all the coaching hires. number one thing we learned. Hire the best or second best coach on the coaching market if you want to turn your fortunes around. That's what the Chargers did with Harbaugh, Patriots did with Vrable,

Bears did with Ben Johnson, Broncos did with Sean Payton, Vrable, New England. And oh, by the way, Mike McDonald was the hot young coach. Interviewed for six different teams. The Harbaugh's raved about him, made the Ravens the number one defense when we thought their offense had better players than their defense. He made him number one. He was the

McVeigh of that coaching cycle for a young coach who hadn't been a head coach yet. So the number one thing we learned is if you want to be great, look at the last five or six coaches. It's a Ben Johnson. It's a Sean McVeigh. It's a Mike McDonnell. It's a Mike Vrable. It's a Sean Peyton. D'Amico Ryan's was a hot young guy from San Francisco. So everybody in the league was like, hire him and immediately turned around Houston. So that's the number one thing. Does Joe Brady of the bills who's going to get hired this morning? Does he qualify as that?

I do not believe so. The second thing that we learn this season, either have a very talented quarterback on a rookie deal or a very talented veteran on a very team-friendly deal. Drake, May, Bow, Nick, Sam, Sam, Donald, Caleb Williams, Matt Stafford. last year Jalen Hertz talented guy only 5% of the eagle cap made the Super Bowl the Super Bowl the year before yet last year Jaden Daniels really talented kid got to the conference championship remember it surprised everybody so ask yourself is Joe Brady is he the Mike Frable of this cycle or the Ben Johnson or the Mike McDonald or the Sean Peyton or a Harbaugh no he's not and is Josh Allen next year going to be really really affordable on a team friendly deal No, he's not. His cap hit is $56 million. That's why I have said the most, I've done this four years in a row. Four years in a row, I've given you two teams that'll surprise the league.

I've hit it four years in a row. I think this is four or five. This year I picked, Seattle, New England. It's not shocking. It's a blueprint. Shocking is when you settle like the Dallas Cowboys did at head coach for Brian Schottnheimer. Or the Jets did it quarterback with Justin Fields. If the Jets meet the Cowboys in the Super Bowl in two weeks, that is shocking.

That is profound. That doesn't line up. Shocking is not a New England team that hired the best coach on the market, had a super talented young quarterback basically for free for the next four years, and was the number one free agent spender. They never settled. They didn't settle in free agency. They didn't settle at coach, and they knew they had an inexpensive, great quarterback.

Seattle upgraded it quarterback, Donald from Gino, super aggressive. They were the number four spender in free agency, and they hired the hot, everybody wants him coach who had interviewed for six jobs. So when I see Brady, Joe Brady getting hired by Buffalo,

that'd be fine. But when you end up with a fourth or, and he interviewed for a couple of jobs, but the number one coach in his cycle was John Harbaugh. next year of the two teams I'm going to predict will double their win total. The Giants, I've already made that choice. I'm not sure who the second team is yet because not everybody's hired their coach. The New York Giants, I'm going to make it five years in a row,

are going to double their win total and make the playoffs next year. I did it with the Patriots and Seahawks this year and you called me crazy. So shocking is when you settle and hire the seventh best coach. or a coach that wasn't interviewing it anywhere, Brian Schottenheimer. Cowboys at a Super Bowl? That's shocking. Jets. We can win with Justin Fields.

That's shocking. But, I mean, and I'll give you a great example. It doesn't even matter how talented your quarterback is. If they're making big money, you're in trouble. Patrick Mahomes. No run game, we go line. They pay him a fortune. Josh Allen.

No pro bowlers on defense. not enough playmakers on offense. Dak Prescott, atrocious defensive personnel. Joe Burrow, battle line, very thin talent on defense. I love Justin Herbert, but the Chargers are a receiver, a tight end, a running back, guard, center guard away from being a Super Bowl team. Justin Herbert makes a lot of money. So next year, John Harbaugh, hottest coach in the market, Jackson Dart, quarterback Giants, talented,

not making anything. that to me is a playoff team and a playoff team that could potentially win games because they're going to be able to add free agent players to their roster. So as they hire Joe Brady, he'd interviewed for a couple jobs, but he's not Stefansky two-time coach of the year.

He's not John Harbaugh. He's not even as hot as a Jesse Minter right now as a guy people have been talking about for years. That was Mike McDonald. McDonald got Baltimore to the number one D. defense. Jim and John Harbaugh raved about him. He interviewed for six jobs. People said he's the defensive version of McVeigh, and he has been. So, I mean, you can hire Joe Brady, but in recent history, there is a blueprint, and Seattle and New England followed it. Upgraded quarterback

or get a very productive, team-friendly quarterback, and hire the hot or second best coach on the cycle, in the cycle. Joe Brady, that's not him. Could be fine. Think he could be fine. Buffalo's done with fine. Buffalo's been fine forever. Buffalo doesn't want fine.

And then Josh Allen, his cap hits too big. So they can't spend any big money on a free agency. Their left tackle is expensive. Josh Allen's expensive. You know, they're going to have to start paying these tight ends. They'll be expensive. So I don't think it's a disaster hire. It's not Freddie Kitchens to Cleveland.

but there is a blueprint to all of this stuff. And so from there, I want to talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers hiring Mike McCarthy. Again, I don't think it's a disastrous job, but yesterday the Steelers owner said, Mike McCarthy hire is about wins, not optics. Well, Mike Tomlin won. The NFL's not about just winning. How is Sam Darnold changed his reputation? Winning in January.

right it's not just about winning Pittsburgh wins all the time it's about winning in January and I've always said this you know you have an elite coach you and I can argue about how good your coach is but when the Steelers with Mike McCarthy in the AFC I won't even go to the NFC just in the AFC I won't put him up against Shanahan McVey Ben Johnson just in the AFC

do you think if the Steelers in a big game late in the season go up against Vrabble? Andy Reed, Jim Harbar, Sean Payton. Do you think you have the best coach? You do not. Kyle Shanahan beat the Eagles. Remember a few weeks back? With about 70% of their roster.

Did you notice who the Eagles lost to this year? It was a lot of good coaches. It was a lot of good coach. They lost to Sean Payton. They lost to Ben Johnson, Kyle Shanahan, Harbaugh. They lost to other coaches. But coaching matters in this lead. And when you settle or get a coach everybody is comfortable with,

like Joe Brady in Buffalo, everybody's comfortable with him. Mike McCarthy in Pittsburgh, everybody's comfortable with him. I'm not saying they're disastrous hires. I think Mike McCarthy will probably win games. And I think Joe Brady with Josh Allen are going to win 10, 11 games. It's Josh Allen. But, I mean, think about this. The Steelers have one playoff win in nine years.

Excuse me. The Steelers haven't won. a playoff game in nine years. Mike McCarthy has one playoff win in nine years. That was their big swing. They upgraded a playoff win. That's not what Seattle did

and New England did. They're in the Super Bowl. Again, I don't think it's a bad hire. I don't think it's a disaster. But if you look at New England and you look at Denver, it's the top coaches. It's Mike McDonald. It's... I mean, when the Niners hired,

Kyle Shanahan, he was the top coordinator. He made Matt Ryan an MVP, got Matt shoved to a Pro Bowl. Right? So this stuff so far, I think it's interesting that Mike McCarthy got the Steelers job. It makes them comfortable. Pittsburgh guy. And then Joe Brady, 10 minutes ago, gets the Buffalo job. It makes everybody comfortable. Okay. The good news for McCarthy, he doesn't have to pay his

quarterback a fortune. If Aaron stays, he's still on a team-friendly deal. That helps. But Josh Allen isn't. Matt Hasselbeck briefly had Mike McCarthy as a position coach. He talked about the Steelers hire. This hire to me makes it feel like the Pittsburgh Steelers want to win right away. Like they want a sure thing that makes them super relevant right away. And they've been heavy on the defensive side and maybe a little bit light on the offensive side. Maybe that balances out just a little bit.

But Mike McCarthy is as Pittsburgh as a person could possibly. be. So I'm happy for him. And I do think it's a good fit. Yeah, I mean, if you look at the last four or five or six coaches left, Sean Payton and Vrable were the big names number one coach available. Giants just got that in John Harbaugh. Mike McDonald was the hot coach. D'Amico Ryans was the hot coach. Ben Johnson for like three years was the hot coach. So that we have something that we know to be true. It's what we learned this year. hire one of the best two coaches. Don't worry about comfort.

Hire one of the best two coaches. And you have to negotiate the best team-friendly deal you can at quarterback. Because Mahomes didn't make the playoffs. And Josh Allen got bounced. And Lamar didn't make the playoffs. And Burrow didn't make the playoffs. And Herbert got bounced. That's the real.

I mean, I like Trevor Lawrence. But he'd make a lot of money in Jacksonville. If he was still in that rookie deal, they'd have another elite corner, probably a first ballot hall of fame left tackle, and they probably win that close game, potentially with Buffalo. So that's where we are. All right, Joe Brady Bills, Jay Mack,

what is your initial kind of gut feeling on the guy in-house for the bills? Yeah, obviously you want somebody that's going to vibe with Josh Allen, and that's clear that they've done that. But kind of uninspiring to me, Colin. Again, we saw him in Carolina not really thrive, was awesome at LSU with Joe Burrow. I don't know what we're going to get. I don't know how he's going to fix that defense.

Yeah. I think the Super Bowl window, I know people don't want to hear this. The reality, Super Bowl window is closed. I called this on the Lions last year. I called this on the Chiefs. I'm just telling you, like, you look at this Bill's roster, Colin. Both their two best linebackers are free agents.

They're an old roster. Yeah. They're like 28th in run defense. Like you can't fix that stuff overnight. Josh Allen's contract expensive. Wide receiver room's terrible. I don't think they're an elite team in the AFC. Yeah, I think they'll be good.

I think they'll be, because Josh Allen guarantees that. Dionne Dawkins, James Cook, the good tight ends. They've got some talent on offense. They'll score some points. They have a weather-friendly new facility now, right? Little less wind, little less snow. They're going to win games. But I think Buffalo's beyond that.

I think Pittsburgh's beyond that. So, bills and Steelers went with comfort. Yeah. That's what I do at night when I sit down. I'm disappointed that the Lakers barely won against the Bulls. And I'll have some ice cream, some comfort food. to make me happy, you know, at night. And that doesn't always work good on the midsection.

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We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys?

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We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs' tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris.

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get your ass up and down the court and you're going to get the ball so listen to point game on the iHeart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts welcome back if i ever want to win an argument with somebody the best thing to do isn't talk the best thing to do is listen and use their words against them and here's a prime example there's an article today why did the Vikings move off Sam Darnold, according to the report. Even though he won 14 games last year and led the Vikings to the playoffs, which shocked everybody, he struggled in, quote, several big games. Their words, Minnesota's words, several big game.

Okay, let me ask you, when the Vikings play the Packers, is that a big game? Yeah, it's usually the biggest game of the weekend, regardless of whose quarterbacks. Darnold went 2-0 against the Packers, 75% completion percentage in two games, 326 yards a game. Eight them alive. It was 2-0 in those games. Are the Bears Vikings big games? Of course, it's a division game. 2-0 against the Bears.

Average 286 yards a game. By the way, one of those was on Monday Night Football, and a Vikings Bears game, standalone game on Monday Night Football. qualifies is a pretty big game. Four and O, Green Bay, Chicago. Darnold did in Minnesota. Their words, not mine. Several big games.

All right, well, let's go to division overall. Okay, it was four and two of the 96 passer rating, and the NFC North in 2024 had the highest winning percentage of any division in NFL history. So he swept the Packers, he sweeps the Bears, he goes four and two with the 96 passers ready, just in division game. Well, Colin, Colin, Colin, Colin.

What about the other ones? Okay, I went and looked at those. Against playoff teams in 2024. Those feel like big games. Donald had a 106 passer rating. That's higher than Josh Allen, who is the MVP. Higher than Mahomes and Stafford. Mahomes got to a Super Bowl.

So he was great against playoff teams. He was perfect against the Bears and the Packers, but in several baseball teams, Big games. He let him down. No, let's be honest. He stunk in the last regular season game, which was the biggest game in Detroit, arguably, of my life. It was the biggest home game for Detroit

with a chance to get the number one seat in my adult life, and they beat the hell out of him. And Sam didn't play well. Well, what about the Rams game the next week? Well, the Rams sacked him nine times. Minnesota could not protect Sam Darnold, He fell behind and was trying to make something happen. So if you want to say he struggled in two games back to back at the end of the season, that's one thing.

But he did not struggle in several big games. He had a better passer rating than the MVP against playoff teams. Sweep the Packers, swept the Bears. And for the record, Detroit gave him problems. Detroit's got a better roster than two years ago Minnesota did. So I'll just say this. You want to win an argument. Listen to the words the arguer uses.

Well, in several big games, Sam Darnold, in the last four teams he's played with, Carolina, San Francisco, Minnesota, Seattle has the highest winning percentage of any quarterback in the NFL. Different team, different roster, different coast, and coordinator, different receivers, different this, different that, different that, he wins. So, and let's be honest about this.

It wasn't about Sam stinking. Sam was in the MVP race in week 14. It was about you went and got J.J. McCarthy. J.J. McCarthy can't stay healthy. Got a little better this past year, which is encouraging. Play it better. But you were interested in Sam Darnel. You didn't like the price.

And the GM John Snyder's like, yeah, I'll take the price. And they won. Sam moves back west, where he's from. So it's just interesting when you read the story. Why did the Vikings let him go? Well, he struggled in a lot of big games. First of all, it's the NFL. I just watched Josh Allen lose a day.

Denver and have, what, four turnovers? This stuff is hard. When you get to the final games, the weather is bad, you're facing great teams. It's hard. This is a hard league even for the great quarterbacks. So, yes, I've always been a darnald fan, but there is this sort of just reflective. The minute you say darnald, it's, wow, he's reckless. Man, he's bad in big games.

It's just not true. It is just not true. He just played flawlessly against the Rams. their great defensive coordinator and a stacked defensive front. Here's Drew Brees yesterday on the Donald journey so far in his career. Sam Donald wouldn't be the player or person he is right now if it wasn't for going through the adversity that he went through in New York and Carolina. Same with Baker Mayfield.

I'm sure he would say the same things. I've heard those guys talk about those things. I know it was the way for me with the San Diego Chargers. People forget I got bench three times with Marty Schottheimer in 2003. agree. That was not a good experience, right? That was like a shot to the confidence. And yet it's also what helped the fire burn, you know, even hotter as my career went on, always feeling like has something to prove chip on the shoulder. And you just feel that with San Donald, but he's handled it with a lot of class. He certainly has. So as I, Minnesota rolled the dice. Minnesota said, you know, we drafted this

guy. We gave up a couple of picks for JJ. We're going to stay with him. I get it. I get it. But let's not it on Sam that, oh, boy, in big games, you couldn't trust him in Minnesota. Until that last regular season game against Detroit, had he been great in that game, he'd gotten multiple MVP votes. Every quarterback during the course of the year, I mean, Patrick Mahomes hasn't played well for two years. Go look at his numbers. J-Mack's been on this for two years. Mahomes has not been great for two years.

I could certainly argue he's been bad in a lot of big games, including the Super Bowl. That's not it. That is just this immediate, you say Donald, you think reckless, big games. It's just not true. Rams had his number. Then this past weekend suddenly, even they didn't. J. Mack with the news. No, no, no, no.

Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Let's go to that Joe Brady news in Buffalo. He is only 36 years old. That's wild. I did not realize he was that young. He's been on the Buffalo staff since 2022 after flopping in Carolina. He was promoted to full-time OC in 2024.

Yeah. And he was a finalist for the assistant coach of the year award. Colin, you know I love a good ranking. So there are three job openings left. Okay. Would you put the, of the people who have locked into their teams, would you put Joe Brady among the best three hires so far of this cycle? Well, I think, just based on resume, you'd have to say John Harbaugh.

Yes. And Kevin Stefansky, two-time coach of the year. are the top two hires. I would say Jesse Minter qualifies as sort of the Mike McDonald McVeigh of this cycle, D'Meiko Ryans, where

people have been talking about Jesse Minter for four years. They were talking about Ben Johnson for four years. So let's say Harbaughn's Stefanski's resumes. I mean, you win in Cleveland. You win playoff games in Cleveland. You get Shadur, Sanders, Shadurr Sanders, do a Pro Bowl in Cleveland.

Say what you want. Stapansky's number two to Harbaugh, who's got a trophy. I think three is the Jesse Minter hire, again, talked about for several years as a guy that's going to be a, and then at four, you can, I think Robert Salah is better than people give it credit for. I think the Robert Salah hire is a very strong hire, in my opinion, tons of cap space. Salas great defensively, can build a culture, has a really talented quarterback and a rookie deal. If I had to pick somebody beyond the Giants next year is my surprise team, I'm not going to pick them yet, but Tennessee is in the running of four or five teams. I like it.

I think Joe Brady is fine, but there's two hires here that feel like comfort hires. McCarthy and Brady. Doesn't make them bad. They could both win. In fact, I would argue they will both win, one because of Josh Allen, the other because he's a capable coach. But if I said to you, name the coaching hires so far that feel comfortable to the team, Buffalo, Pittsburgh. Yeah. Offense was never the issue this season with Buffalo, Colin.

No. I mean, look at their final game. Would they hang on Denver? 30-something points? Yeah. 500 yards of offense. Like, offense wasn't the problem. We'll see if the new voice changes anything.

I'm a little dubious. All right, let's move to Cleveland. Oh, boy, the land. One of the many nicknames for the Factory of Sadness. Colin, the latest report about their head coaching vacancy is Jim Schwartz, the DC in Cleveland, is gaining momentum to be the new head coach. Schwartz, you may have remembered, was the coach of the coach of the coach. the Detroit Lions, he went 29 and 51.

I'm fairly certain those were some lean Stafford years. But they did get to the playoffs once, and I'm almost certain they lost that game to Dallas. There was some questionable officiating, if my bankroll remembers it correctly. Schwartz has been with the Brown since 2023. I'll let you go first. Yeah, I don't think he was, I mean, was he one of the top two candidates? No. Was he the hot young candidate? No. that's what's winning.

So he doesn't qualify for either of those. He's not the top coach or second top coach on the market, and he's not the young guy, like Jesse Minter. People are very excited about Jesse Mentor. The Ravens had him. He left the building. They got him back the minute they could. So I don't think he qualifies as one of those two groups,

but Joe Brady and Mike McCarthy don't, and I do think Joe Brady will win double-digit games in Buffalo. They just don't have any cap space because of, you know, because of Josh Allen's $56 million salary. Yeah. I got a couple buddies in Ohio. They are lamenting this news, Colin. This is, like you said, uninspiring.

Everybody wants shiny new things. There's a passing game coordinator that the Rams have who's hot. A lot of Cleveland fans were begging for Clint Kubiak of the Seahawks. That's clearly not going to happen now, is there in the Super Bowl. It just feels like this is kind of uninspiring. The Cleveland coaching search was odd. So you let go of a two-time coach of the year. And according to reports, the Cleveland Browns wanted you as one of the least interesting jobs and least desirable jobs.

They were demanding you write an essay on why you think. That's the story. I'm not making this up. That was the story. They wanted you to write an essay on what qualified you for the job, which is a strange ask when you're not that desirable position. when the Ravens is open, the Bills is open, the Giants is open. Atlanta with very good ownership makes the playoffs is, is, was open. And Cleveland, I mean, and even the Raiders get Fernando Mendoza.

So that's very attractive, right? That's kind of attractive. You get a very talented number one pick quarterback. Four years are not paying him anything. I just, I, I, I have pity in life for burn victims and orphans and people who have gone through horrible things in life. I struggle to feel bad for people who kept stepping in it, keeps stepping in it. And I feel like Cleveland just keeps stepping in it, drafting Johnny Mansell and Freddie Kitchens

and then letting Stefansky go. It's like, it's hard for me to have sympathy for Cleveland when they do this. Yeah, it's weird. The way you frame that about like the Browns are asking people to write an essay. I remember one of my first college job interviews right after college. I had to fly to a town called Bay City, Michigan. Have you heard of it? No.

Yeah, it's super tiny. But I'm like a young guy. And I'm looking around the newsroom. It's all these old people. I'm like, what is there to do in this town? Basically, I'm asking them, can you sell me on coming here? And they're like, we want you. Here's an offer.

And I'm like, what am I doing? I'm not going here. I'm a young guy. I don't, it just feels like Cleveland and Haslam. They continuously have bungled things. It's a very tough job. Yeah. To Doer Sanders isn't great, but he's popular.

It's very Tebow-esque, although he's better than Tebow. So it's one of those. situations where the quarterback's not really trait-wise great, but he's really popular. And so you've got to play that game, and you've got impulsive ownership, and the roster's not very good. It's a hard job. And you're in a division where, you know, Joe Burrell plays and Lamar Jackson plays, and the Steelers usually have pretty good personnel. So I just don't. It's uninspired. Maybe home in a bunch of games, it feels uninspired. Does it feel like they didn't have a game plan when they fired Sifansky? A little. Yeah. Final story, Colin? Mike,

Vrabel and the Patriots somehow made the Super Bowl easy schedule, face Jared Sidham in the AFC title game. Unbelievable. Anyways, he had a pretty cool approach in training camp. He wanted each of his players to start with four H's. He wanted to know their hopes, history, heroes, and heartbreak. That's kind of nerdy, but also somewhat cool. Several players say that starting this instead of diving right into the playbooks,

it helped kind of develop team chemistry. wide receiver, Kisham Booty, when you know what a guy beside you went through in order to be here today, it makes you want to play for them even more. It all started with Vrable. So I like that idea and attitude from Vrable. Do you want to tell us your heroes?

Not really. Stefan Diggs. Stefan Diggs, tell me about your Buffalo heartbreak losing the Chiefs every year in the playoffs. Not a bad strategy. Team building, baby. I think Drew Brees talked about that yesterday. on the show. You're hiring a CEO now, not a play caller. If you can get a CEO that can do a little

play calling, that's great. But, you know, I was thinking about that Buffalo situation. If I'm asking you today, who is the better coach? Today, Joe Brady or Sean McDermott? Oh, come on. That's obvious. Well, it would be Sean McDurton. Sorry, for me. I would take McDermott. Okay, who's better? Kevin Stefansky or Jim Schwartz? Stifansky. Isn't it interesting? Now, when New England hired a coach, who was better, Gerard Mayer or Mike Vrable. Okay. So the point being is, when you hired Vrable, whether or not he was going to be the best coach in the league, it was a massive upgrade. That's why you get rid of a coach.

There was nobody on the market that was going to be a massive upgrade from Kevin Stefansky. Now, Baltimore can argue we think Jesse Minter is a cultural upgrade from Harbaugh, 18 years. You know, a lot of the stories get old. That's what Seattle felt. had been there, players had heard the stories, you want to upgrade. When it comes to a coaching, sir, do you believe the coach you are hiring is a notable and inarguable and not debatable upgrade over the last coach? Do we know that with Joe Brady? Do we know that with Joe Brady and Sean McGerman? We do not. Did we know what Gerard, Mayo, and Vrable? Yes, did we know Matt

Eberflues, Ben Johnson? Absolutely. Nat Hackett and Peyton, absolutely. Just ask yourself, who was the last guy here? Who's the guy you hired? Is it an inarguable upgrade? When the answer is yes, usually good things happen. And that's a great point because everybody wanted the jets to fire Aaron Glenn. I don't think anybody would have been clamoring for this job. And so I don't know if it's an upgrade. I'm fine with keeping Glenn.

But like Sala, huge upgrade over Callahan. Was it Callahan? Whoever the young coach was. I think Robert Sala qualifies is a big upgrade. That's the one coaching hire that's getting no discussion, which I actually think if I, today I told you, I think the New York Giants are one of my two picks to double their win total and more.

This morning, I don't have a second. Tennessee would probably be the leader in the clubhouse with Sala. I think Cam Ward's really talented, and they got a lot of caps based, a lot. I agree. Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The herd lie news. Sometimes in sports or politics, we frame our debates based on how much we like the coach, the quarterback of the, the politician involved. Is Sean McVey of the Rams getting a little pass because we like him? That's next, The Herd.

Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast?

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. but this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember.

I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast,

where people could call in and say, hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad Hey Jonas and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jenchen won. I mean, she went down at three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted.

She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis Podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of I Heart Women's Sports. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast, Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before.

And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing.

That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah. You figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Saturday on Fox, they come from all over for the 150th Westminster Kennel Club Show. The nose-to-nose battle for Top Dog begins with the Master's Agility Championship.

Saturday, 430 Eastern on Fox. So what I'm about to say, I think is pretty true. If you don't like our current president, you just don't like his personality, then you don't want to hear about his policies. And that's always, if you didn't like the previous guy, Biden, you don't want to hear about his policies. You don't like him for whatever reason. It's the same with athletes. A lot of you just don't like LeBron. He's arguably the best basketball player ever.

I was in last night I went to the game, Bowles, Lakers, second best player on both rosters. James and for the first quarter he was the best player he's great so people love Sean McVeigh I love Sean McVeigh people don't like Sean Payton as much little cocky little snarky I like I like Sean Payton too but it is interesting so one coach is getting hammered for a fourth down call the other gets a pass so let's talk about Denver first I would have kicked a field goal but this needs to be said Denver was playing at home. Denver has the first or second highest-rated offensive line.

Sean Payton's an elite play caller. And it was early in the game. And all they had to get was one yard with an excellent offensive line. They're at home. Now, I didn't like the call at all, putting it in the hands of Jarrett Stidham. Bow Nicks, I would go for it, and I'd have no problem. If you're going to do Jarrett Stidham, do a run, get behind your offensive line, Don't roll out Jarrett Stibb.

But what's interesting, analytically, it was kind of a coin flip. The analytics didn't overwhelmingly tell you field goal, although they preferred it slightly. Now let's go to the Rams going for it. It wasn't fourth and one. It was fourth and four. You weren't the home team. You were the road team.

In fact, it's so loud in Seattle, Matt Stafford at midfield, has to kneel down because he can't hear. What do you think it sounds like in the ends of? It's the loudest place in the league. It's not fourth and one. It's fourth and four. The Seahawks D-line is higher rated than the Rams O-line. So you don't have the Broncos O-line advantage.

It's not fourth and one. It's fourth and four. It's not at home. It's on the road. And yet McVeigh total pass. Now, analytics do tell you to go for it here. But it's not 90-10. It's like 4630.

It's like an 8 to 10% swing. You should go for it. I defended both coaches yesterday going for it. I just didn't like Sean Payton's call at all. Don't put it in the hands of Stidham. Bo Nix rolling right is different than Jared Stidham rolling right. Right? Bo Nix is really athletic.

Jared Stidham's a guy, right? So, but it is interesting. The analytics, I look at Sean McVeigh. Remember, the Rams had. stop Seattle on the previous drive. So there's certainly an argument that let's just kick a field goal, get within one, we stopped him on the previous drive, I like how my defense is playing. You can certainly make that argument.

And even the analytics weren't overwhelmingly, you got to go for it. You're on the road. Not only on the road, you're in the end zone. It's the Seahawks defense. Oh, by the way, your quarterback Matt Stafford is one of the least mobile quarterbacks in the league. So if the play design, the play call doesn't work, you're screwed. You don't get a second and third play like Caleb Williams, Josh, Lamar, Mahal, you don't get that. You are very much in a Jared Goff situation.

The play a call has to work or you're screwed on the road against Seattle. Not fourth and one, fourth and four. So I defended both coaches because I don't like beating coaches up for play calling. I think these coaches, you've got to get a lot of buy-in from your players. And if you're always punning, for the record, it should be noted that compared to 15 years ago, coaches go for it twice as often on fourth down as they used to. So it's just the trend in sports. Dan Campbell's entire brand is going for it.

But I think Dan Campbell going for it, he loves to hand that ball off to running backs or have a clever play. He didn't have golf rolling out. Jared stood him rolling out as Jared Goff rolling out, basically. That's never going to be my call I like. But it is interesting. Denver's at home. Denver's got a great old line.

It's only fourth and one. It's early in the game. probably isn't going to decide anything, right? And that's considered horrible. And McVey is like, yeah, of course you go for it. When I was sitting there, my take was, I didn't have a problem going for it, but I thought, fourth and four in the end zone in Seattle,

against a great secondary. I'm like, man, that's a, I didn't have a lot of confidence in it. I'll say that. Here's Mike Vrabble on W-E-E-E-I in, Boston talking about Sean Payton's decision. I don't mind being aggressive. You just, I think the biggest thing is

trying to predict the flow of the game and what it's going to look like. And how many points do you think that you're going to need to eventually win the football game? We've gone forward and gotten it. We've gone forward and not gotten it. Obviously, when you get it, it looks like a great decision, but the other side of the court is that you don't get it. And now the reaction and the response of it, what happens after that.

Yeah. I'm generally, I think, going for it, especially if I think the quarterback is good. I just didn't like Sean Payton putting it in the hands of a very marginally athletic. Jarrett Stidham rolling out. I didn't like that play at all. If it would have handed it off on fourth and one and a half and the line got stymied and hammered, the Denver's O lines, like one of the best in the league. The Rams is good, but it's not as good as Denver's.

So there you go. The other thing about analytics, because I said this, like analytics is very interesting. I went and watched the Bulls and the Lakers last night. No defense in the first half. A little bit of Laker defense in the second, none in the first half.

So analytics don't measure everything. And here's what they didn't measure last night in that game. Nobody cared. Nobody cares in January about playing defense. in the first half of games. I mean, the Lakers were shooting like 60-some percent in the first half. I mean, they were just getting wide-open shots. Analytics don't measure everything.

We know once you get to the NBA playoffs, the mid-range game becomes much more important. And once you get to the postseason in football, analytics don't talk a lot about weather. One of the reasons I would have gone for it in Denver's case is they had to have some weather reports. Teams always do, knowing the weather was going to, going to get worse and it was already cold and a little windy.

There's another reason not to just kicked Sean Payton. I just kicked the field goal. Take a 10-0-0 league. We could get ourselves into a windy, sloppy, cold, snowy second half, where that field goal matters a lot. But I do think it's often interesting. Whether it's presidents or it's coaches or players, do you like the guy?

You're much more willing to defend the guy. And McVeigh's got a very good reputation and everybody likes him. So there you go. Nick Wright's showing up next hour. Um, RG3 showing up last hour. Colin, can I ask you a quick question about that? Lakers Bulls game. So I was watching it out here in L.A. and, um, you know, Luca Dantzich went for, I believe, 46 on like 24 shots or something efficient. How is he not the MVP of the league at this point? He has eight 40-point games this season.

He's unbelievable. Oh, yeah. And how is he not the MVP? You know, you know my takeaway watching that game. The New England Patriots went from unwelcome. watchable to the Super Bowl. Because you can do that in the NFL because you can trade anybody you want. The Chicago Bulls have been bad for a decade plus, and they're a mile and a half from being great. They need four more high player.

The NBA limits the trades you can make. There's only so much you can do. And in the NFL where the Patriots draft 23-year-old men, five of their rookies, six of their rookies for the Patriots, have been highly productive. in the NBA, you draft a 19-year-old kid, who even if he's Wemby, is going to be on a game restriction, a minute restriction, a value restriction. And so I'm watching that game last night,

and my takeaway is, you know, Luca scored 46. I mean, it was the easiest 46 you've ever seen in your life, easy as relative to, you know, other games. They've just, like, they didn't, Chicago doesn't defend much, especially this time January NBA season. But my other takeaway is if you want to know why the NFL is king, it's the league of hope is that you can be awful. You can literally be the Bears and the Patriots.

Six months later, free agent, you hire the right coach, you get the quarterback elevated through coaching, you can play for a Super Bowl or get damn close to it. The Bulls have been bad forever. There's no way out. There's nothing they can do to get out of that. They're not close. Most of the fans last night were cheering for LeBron.

Of course. Yeah. I mean, listen, essentially, you don't want to say everybody, that's mediocre should tank. But that's what you're looking at in the NBA. This draft is so loaded last night. I'm sure you watch Coe Pete at Arizona.

You got the kid DeBanza from B.W. There's so many. It's like a six potential stars. And all it takes is one. Chicago just hasn't had that luck in the draft lately. They have. And Nick Wright is stopping by top of next hour. It is a Tuesday.

Super Bowl is set. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess, What? We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite, unhumored me with Rob,

Robert Smygel and Friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Turn someday into right now with Buddy by Jake Radio. Non-stop workout music and expert tips 24-7

Hey, head over to iHeart.com. Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free right now. Awesome health and wellness tips 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Remember, stick to the fight. When your heart is hit, it's when things seem worse that you must not quit. Don't quit. Body by Jake Radio, where hope meets momentum. Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free.

Have a great day. I heart radio. I'm Joey Dardano, and on my new podcast, Hope from a Hippocrat, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to me.

This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from a Hypocrite Wednesdays on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human